Some of Iowa State’s best athletes live in stables, have huge teeth and can fly over a barrier with all the finesse of a seasoned gymnast.

These four-legged athletes and their trainers – the ISU Equestrian Club members – are practicing and preparing for the big Western Event horse competition in March. Plans are under way for the competition, when five teams from across the Midwest will compete in Ames at Stagecoach Stables, 1568 Stagecoach Road.

“Right now, we’re working on awards and other paperwork,” said Jessica Katzman, Hunter’s Seat captain for the team. “It’s not too complicated. It just takes a lot of people to organize.”

The ISU Equestrian Club competes in about 10 competitions each year and hosts one competition annually, she said.

“Other schools hold two or three competitions a year,” said Katzman, junior in animal science. “Iowa State doesn’t really have the resources to hold that many competitions.”

While Stagecoach Stables is providing horses for the competition, Katzman and other club members are busy rounding up other horses in the Ames area to use.

The Western Event – one of two types of competition club members practice – is judged on two components, including “flat” and “reining,” said Sarah Goodwin, Equestrian Club vice president.

The flat component, Katzman said, is judged on how the horse is handled.

“It’s based on how you ride, not based on the horse,” she said.

Reining is a pattern of maneuvers riders must complete, Katzman said.

“It’s like figure skating, but on a horse,” she said. “They give you a pattern and you go out and do it. It’s similar to what you’d see in the Olympics, but with only six or eight fences.”

More than 20 club members compete in Western Event and Hunter’s Seat, the second type of competition, said Goodwin, junior in animal science. In Hunter’s Seat competitions, the rider is judged on jumping and flat, she said.

Different skill levels for each event allow beginners and advanced riders to compete, Goodwin said.

The club members practice every Monday night at Stagecoach Stables, which provides horses and trainers for the club.

Both the Hunter’s Seat and Western Event teams currently are ranked third in the region. Sean Cunningham, former president of the Equestrian Club, said he hopes for the Hunter’s Seat team to go to the zone championship this year.

The ISU Equestrian Club is part of the Intercollegiate Horse Show Association, which has eight zones in the United States, Katzman said.

“The Intercollegiate Horse Show Association is the main governing body for all the equestrian clubs,” she said. “They provide the rules and determine how the shows are run.”

ISU club members compete in several competitions against universities from Iowa, Minnesota, Wisconsin and Nebraska, which all are in the same region, Goodwin said.

The Equestrian Club is funded primarily by student fees distributed through the Government of Student Body, although the club does have fundraisers, Katzman said, including working at the concession stands at football games, selling tickets for special sales held at Younkers and picking corn for Mycogene, a seed corporation.

But a lasting effect of the club is the bond among the members, said Cunningham, senior in animal science.

“I have made some great friendships because of this,” he said. “It was also a great opportunity to have a leadership position. This is definitely a rewarding experience.”

The club links horse lovers across the nation, Katzman said.

“I get to travel and get more experience in showing,” she said.

Membership in the club is open to all students.

“The club currently has students from all majors, from accounting to zoology to animal sciences,” Goodwin said.

Students do not need experience with showing horses in order to join, she said. Horses and training are provided.

“A lot of people think that you have to have a horse and understand how to show it, but you really don’t,” Katzman said. “We have people who have never shown before joining, but are doing really well in competitions.”

For more information about the club visit the Web site at www.stuorg.iastate.edu/equestrian.